As the Little Children

This week was a slower week because of Carnaval. The entire mission is more or less on lockdown. We have to be in our house by 5:00pm and there are some areas that have to stay in their house the whole week. Many missionaries in areas of higher cultural turbulence have moved to calmer areas to pass the storm.

In our area, we’ve had mixed emotions about being cooped up in the house. On the one hand, it’s been nice to have time to write and read and catch up on the aspects of the mission that have been lacking (particularly the diary). On the other hand, I started to get antsy on day 2, knowing that there were various people we needed to teach that we simply couldn’t reach because of the time restraints. Time on the mission is incredibly short and incredibly precious. Once I realized that my time on the mission is short and precious, I realized that our time in this life is short and precious.

Which I suppose is why I’m so happy that we were able to baptize Irmão José. He’s about 66 years old but walks and smiles and laughs as if he were about 20. He’s the type of man whose life is positively infectious. Everyone around can’t quite understand what he’s saying (for lack of teeth). So instead of listening with their ears they listen with their heart. His Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is incredibly strong. Despite being diabetic with vascular problems in his legs, he walks 25-30 minutes every Sunday to church and stays attentive the full three hours. Despite being unable to read, he loves to hear the scriptures and listens to the scriptures CD that we made for him every day. I imagine him receiving his perfect body after the traps of this mortal life have fallen away and returning to his Savior with the same smile as on the day of his baptism. Some people just get it. I feel blessed to have been a part of his life.